The Improve I-70 Kansas City project, which refers to modernization work in the orange-highlighted area of I-70 in the map above, is funded separately from the Statewide Improve I-70 Program. The Statewide program will add a third lane in each direction of I-70 between Blue Springs and Wentzville. Improve I-70 Kansas City is one of several projects that will modernize the I-70 corridor across the state.
The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) has selected Clarkson-Radmacher Joint Venture as the apparent best-value proposer and Design-Build contractor for the Improve I-70 Kansas City Design-Build Project in Kansas City. Negotiations to finalize the contract are currently in progress. Clarkson-Radmacher are both union signatory contractors, so union members will be responsible for a massive amount of work over the next half-decade.
The Improve I-70 KC project is a five-mile stretch of Interstate 70 between The Paseo Blvd. and US 40/31 St. in KC. This section of I-70 was built in the early 1960s and carries up to 120,000 vehicles per day with heavy traffic congestion during rush hours and traffic incidents. It includes 12 interchanges and 26 bridges. The current section has narrow shoulders, short distances between ramps, low bridge vertical clearances, and outdated roadway geometric features. Most of the bridges and pavement are in poor condition, and the pedestrian and bicycle facilities need improvement.
“This project is critical to the Kansas City region to replace aging infrastructure, improve connectivity between neighborhoods along and across I-70, and improve safety and traffic flow including the Benton and Jackson curves,” said Missouri Department of Transportation Improve I-70 KC Project Director Allan Ludiker. “We will do all of this while keeping three lanes of I-70 open each direction during the World Cup.”
The $237 million Improve I-70 KC project will improve the safety and reliability of this corridor section, maintain the serviceability of bridges and pavement, and improve accessibility for the local community, while minimizing the overall traffic impacts along the corridor. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2025 with an anticipated project completion by spring 2028, which is 7 months ahead of the required completion date. Three lanes of I-70 will remain open in both directions during the 2026 World Cup.
The selected team, including contractor Clarkson-Radmacher Joint Venture and designer HNTB, competed against one other design-build team.
The winning Improve I-70 KC project proposal includes:
- Add a fourth eastbound I-70 lane from Prospect Ave to the Manchester Ave Bridge
- Replace 15 bridges and rehabilitate another seven bridges
- Improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity throughout the project area
- Reconstruct I-70 from Chestnut Ave to 18th St (Benton curve)
- Reconstruct eastbound I-70 from 27th St to Cypress Ave (Jackson curve)
- Rehabilitate westbound I-70 from 27th St to Cypress Ave (Jackson curve)
“The Clarkson-Radmacher Joint Venture could not be more honored and excited to be the selected team for the Improve I 70 KC Design Build project,” said Bruce Timmons Jr., vice president of structures for the Clarkson Construction Company. “Our team has a deep history of working with MoDOT on projects in Kansas City and along this corridor of I-70. We look forward to working with MoDOT once again to deliver another transformational project to Kansas City.”
Design-Build is a project delivery method that combines both the design and construction phases into one contract. The selected contract team completes the design and construction in parallel instead of in succession, which saves time and resources.
MoDOT plans to host public information meetings in fall 2024 ahead of construction where project plans and traffic control details will be shared.
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF I-70?
MoDOT, in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration, is finishing the re-evaluation process to update the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) of Interstate 70. (I-70) As work to update the Environmental Impact Statement wraps up, Improve I-70: Blue Springs to Odessa will transition to a Design-Build project. The award of this contract is scheduled for Spring 2025 and could be completed by Fall 2028.
The two other western Missouri I-70 projects, including the project to improve Interstate 70 from Marshall to Columbia and the project to improve Interstate 70 from Odessa to Marshall, will have more public information available soon.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
